hitorikun

hello everyone! hitori desu, I have recently acquired the Scandal fever and such, i have some questions in mind. I would gladly appreciate any answers,thank you!

1. did the girls get picked from auditions (for a band) held at Caless? or they are approached individually by the "random sensei"?

2. when did Eisuke (their manager) enter the scene? i think he's only a few years older than Haru.

3. did Caless fund their equipments? their studio practices? what about all the stuff they used during their shiroten days? (tents, amps, etc..)

4. i dont even want to ask this last one but its bugging me (gomene >.<). with some posts i read about them being "made up" since the start (like... did they really have no past experiences with their instruments aside from Mami and Rina, or is the "whole caless thing just a front, ) are any of these true?

answers are greatly appreciated. doumo arigatou gozaimasu!

Last edited by Lexian on Tue Feb 25, 2014 7:39 pm; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : Changed thread title as this discussion about the band's early history has expanded.)

thoseguiltyeyes

1. Based on what the girls have said, a teacher (or teachers) at Caless asked if they'd like to try picking up instruments, and that led to them starting the band.

2. I'm not entirely sure when Eisuke became their manager. He's with Kitty Group, so it's possible he's been with them since their major debut or perhaps before that. I can't remember at the moment if I remember seeing him in footage from their indie days. He is fairly young; he was born in 1986 so he'll be turning 28 this year.

3. I'm not sure if this info was ever disclosed. MAMI had mentioned in their NHK documentary that she had to borrow a guitar from a friend when Caless began their "auditions," so it's possible that the girls had to buy their own instruments afterwards at least.

4. It is 100% true that none of them had ever picked up or played their respective instruments before they were in the band, and that they were basically brought together by the Caless staff. I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of, especially since the girls have no trouble talking about it.

For more info on their early days, you should check out their NHK BS Premium documentary. Links to it are located in the Media section, and you'll be able to access it once you have 50 posts (and please try not to spam!).

hitorikun

thank you so much! and yes,I've already watched it a LOT of times at scandal-media ( i try to find every docu that they have).

so, their shiroten days are still a mystery then? (like, who helped fund their gears, did they have a small staff, was it caless staff?)

and.. did they quit Caless after SCANDAL was formed, or they still continued to be enrolled in it before Kitty found them?

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thoseguiltyeyes

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No, we have no idea about their staff or lack thereof during their Shiroten days. And it's possible that Kitty/Sony helped Caless organize the search-for-a-band thing, but we don't know that for sure. A lot of things have never fully been explained and probably never will.

Last edited by thoseguiltyeyes on Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:38 am; edited 1 time in total

macdyne73

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Adding to this, the girls have alluded to borrowing instruments from other people in the beginning (teachers etc.) for example, Tomomi's first Jazz bass and the Eric Clapton Stratocaster used during their SXSW shows in the US in 2008. I am also 100% sure that Rina did not have her own drum kit until much later, as she has indirectly mentioned in some interviews.

sillentdx

thoseguiltyeyes wrote:[...] And it's possible that Kitty/Sony helped Caless organize the search-for-a-band thing, but we don't know that for sure. [...]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (isn't the very first sentence means something like this: They formed a (then unnamed) girls rock band on August 21, 2006 because the once glorious anime studio Kitty Films (or Kitty Rights & Entertainment) requested them to do so?)

thoseguiltyeyes

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@sillentdx: Ah, I've seen that page before. That's where I originally read about Kitty having a hand in forming the band. It's been a while since I've seen it, though, so I wasn't sure earlier if I was just imagining it or something. haha. Anyway, yes, the request to form a girl band originally came from Kitty. This is what it says in the first two sentences on that page:

[SCANDAL was] formed on 08-21-2006 from a nearly two-year-old eager request to Caless from Kitty Rights & Entertainment to "form a girl band." 4 members were chosen to start band activities out the interested participants within the school (most participants were amateurs) that auditioned.

HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo

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So basically what happened is that Kitty asked CALESS for a long time to form a band and eventually at some point they did an audition and in the end HARU, TOMO and MAMI were chosen with RINA coming a bit later right?

Then they started to practice with the help of CALESS and Kitty and that's how they helped them during Shiroten days. Also once the band was chosen they probably gave them the material to train.

Eisuke must be from Kitty and either joined them at the start or maybe later when they were more trained. Or maybe he was related to CALESS at the beginning and watched over the girls or was the contact for Kitty then decided to follow the band.

Now just one thing, usually when I hear CALESS people say it's a dance and vocal school. And MAMI said she had to borrow a guitar from a friend. Does that mean that Kitty wanted to form a "pop idol" girls band? And that in the end CALESS formed a rock band instead?

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thoseguiltyeyes

As I said before, he is from Kitty. If you look at their album/single liner notes, it says that he's part of Kitty. I highly doubt he was ever related to Caless.

Now just one thing, usually when I hear CALESS people say it's a dance and vocal school. And MAMI said she had to borrow a guitar from a friend. Does that mean that Kitty wanted to form a "pop idol" girls band? And that in the end CALESS formed a rock band instead?

MAMI borrowed a guitar for the auditions. Isn't that the key right there? Kitty's intentions must have been to form a girl band with members that'll play instruments, so it's highly unlikely that they wanted a "pop idol" girl band.

Last edited by thoseguiltyeyes on Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:19 pm; edited 2 times in total

sillentdx

So, why they had to be discovered by Kitty, again, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] :D

In a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] J-Pop World interview they said the following:

Q: Tell us about your first performances at Shibuya Club Asia and its importance to your career.A: [...] But that was a very important show because all the people from the record company and the management were at that show, which eventually led to our debut.

They particularly highlighted that the peepz from both the record company and the management were at that show. Before they signed to Epic both of their managment/record company was Kitty. After they signed to Epic, Epic became their record company while Kitty relegated as their managment. Is my assumption correct? (or they mean Tower Records (their indie singles were Tower Records (+iTunes) exclusive) as the record company?)

Anyway Masterworks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on April 10, 2008 that they've inked a record deal with Epic

So, what's your thought about this?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------EDIT: @HaRuRiNaMaMiToMoI think Kitty wanted to form a band like ZONE (they were really popular and they've just disbanded one year before the formation of SCANDAL.) Kitty was always in financial problems (they basicly sold all of their anime licenses to stay afloat) and they prolly wanted an uber popular, ZONE-esque band to recover. Now, the once glorious anime studio solely acts as a talent agency (and prolly SCANDAL was the first artist they managed?)

HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo

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MAMI borrowed a guitar for the auditions. Isn't that the key right there? Kitty's intentions all along must have been to form a girl band with members that'll play instruments, so it's highly unlikely that they wanted a "pop idol" girl band.

Yeah but you translated this :

[SCANDAL was] formed on 08-21-2006 from a nearly two-year-old eager request to Caless from Kitty Rights & Entertainment to "form a girl band."

And as I said, but maybe I'm wrong here, CALESS is a dance + vocal school no? At least that's how people describe it, I have never seen someone say "a musician school". The fact that MAMI had to borrow a guitar also maybe means CALESS didn't have one (or enough). Or maybe MAMI meant she needed to borrow one to train before the auditions.

What I mean is with that 2 years request maybe they wanted a normal idol band and that in the end it didn't work and they tried something different with a rock band.

Obviously when CALESS did that audition it was for a rock band because of the instruments, but it doesn't seem that Kitty wanted that since the start.

Well anyway it really doesn't matter but it's a topic so just talking about it ^_^

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macdyne73

I remember that blog too. Thinking about it, it feels like a whole lifetime ago. For the girls and the staff from the beginning, it virtually *is* a whole lifetime ago.

What you are saying Silentdx, is essentially correct. The rough time line would be Kitty asks Caless if they could help find some students who were interested in/had potential for a band. Tryouts were held, the 3 girls (and later Rina) emerged. Then, Kitty helped polish, train and manage the band until they were good enough to play at Shiroten and to cut an EP (Yah Yah Hello SCANDAL). While continuing to work, Kitty probably tried hawking the band to labels. During this time, Kitty was essentially the girls' (indie) label.

Then, sometime in 2007-2008, Kitty people probably invited Epic Records talent scouts to attend a show and the rest, as they say, is history.

I think it should go something like that...

@HRMT

Exactly what Kitty asked Caless to help with is something that will never be known until someone somewhere decides to release the information. Perhaps Kitty wanted some students who were trained singers/dancers and who were *also* interested in forming a band?

I also don't think they (Kitty) were looking to form a regular idol unit, otherwise it wouldn't take as long as it did and Mami wouldn't have needed to borrow that guitar. I think it's more plausible that they were looking for a band.

Why did they choose to look to Caless for candidates? What was their criteria? Now *these* questions I would like to know the answers to...

thoseguiltyeyes

Maybe this thread should be renamed to something like, "Pre-major debut questions about SCANDAL" or such. (I don't think one technically exists) This is getting to be pretty long.

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HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo wrote:And as I said, but maybe I'm wrong here, CALESS is a dance + vocal school no? At least that's how people describe it, I have never seen someone say "a musician school". The fact that MAMI had to borrow a guitar also maybe means CALESS didn't have one (or enough). Or maybe MAMI meant she needed to borrow one to train before the auditions.

Yes, CALESS is a dance & vocal school only; they don't have any curriculum regarding bands. I didn't translate the entire paragraph on that page fully, but in the next sentence it does say exactly that (it says: "Because Caless is a 'vocal & dance school,' there is no band curriculum; the 4 were inexperienced with instruments and got off to a fairly harsh start."). And I'm also not calling it a "musician school" in any way, because it definitely isn't. From how you worded your sentence, it sounded to me like you thought they wanted to form a pop idol band with no instruments and you were wondering why MAMI had to borrow a guitar. But who knows, they could have originally wanted that and then changed it up to a pop-rock girl band.

hitorikun

ugh. Too much info than i originally wanted! lol. but please do continue. Thank you everyone!

so.. the tentative answer is that Kitty funded the girl's shiroten days? if so, then the statement "they were accidentally scouted by Kitty records whilst playing live at shiroten" is incorrect?

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thoseguiltyeyes

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haha yeah, I didn't think this thread would suddenly kind of explode like it has.

hitorikun wrote:so.. the tentative answer is that Kitty funded the girl's shiroten days? if so, then the statement "they were accidentally scouted by Kitty records whilst playing live at shiroten" is incorrect?

It seems like a plausible answer, yes. And I think what was originally said (in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] at least) was that they were "discovered" in 2007 by Kitty at Shibuya Club Asia, but them being "discovered" at Shiroten is also incorrect since Kitty had a hand in getting them together in the first place.

hitorikun

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then, is Kitty also involved in their first US tour?

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thoseguiltyeyes

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The tour that they went on was the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], which is an annual showcase here in the US of Japanese bands. The tour itself was/is not organized by Kitty, but I guess you could say they were involved in getting the band on the tour in 2008.

hitorikun

Now that i think about it,isn't Eisuke with them? Im probably mistaken but, they already have some staff back then? (the one where one of the girls was scolded for losing track of her passport).

*rummages through old vids*

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HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo

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Maybe there is something lost in translation about them being discovered by Kitty at that Shibuya live?

Kitty wanted CALESS to form a girl band but that doesn't mean that Kitty was present for every step of the process every day, especially if that was a 2 years old request as said earlier. That being said that Shibuya live is 1 year after the formation of the band so it would be unlikely that CALESS didn't say anything about SCANDAL to Kitty.

Maybe Kitty knew about them but CALESS took their time training the girls and supporting them a bit and then finally Kitty said "ok this is it" at the event? Which mean they discovered the real SCANDAL that time.

Also we are assuming that CALESS did one audition but maybe they were working on several type of bands back then and didn't really get Kitty involved but just told them "we are working on several bands, here are the girls, we will contact you when we know more, etc".

That would mean it's CALESS that supported them during Shiroten. It was like 7 months after the band was officially born, so at that point they thought they were going in the right direction and that it was going well.

Well maybe that or maybe one fact form the timeline or one of the article/translation is slightly wrong.

About the US tour or the other tours it seems clear that at that point it was Kitty supporting them and pushing for them not CALESS anymore.

@hitorikun : That was for the US tour in 2008, they were already with Kitty then. It was TOMO ^^

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thoseguiltyeyes

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hitorikun wrote:Now that i think about it,isn't Eisuke with them? Im probably mistaken but, they already have some staff back then? (the one where one of the girls was scolded for losing track of her passport).

I just re-watched all of the videos they've made available from their US tour and I don't see Eisuke anywhere. But, I do recognize one of their staff members who's most likely still with them to this day. I remember seeing him when they came back to the US three years ago.

------------------------------

HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo wrote:Maybe there is something lost in translation about them being discovered by Kitty at that Shibuya live?

They mention a "record company" and "management" in that J-Pop World interview, and nowhere do they say exactly which record company or management. I guess people have just assumed that they meant Kitty as the record company.

For now, I'm done trying to do any more speculations regarding this. It's just too hard and complicated to do with limited and vague information.

Last edited by thoseguiltyeyes on Thu Feb 27, 2014 8:54 am; edited 2 times in total

hitorikun

thank you for all the info guys! there's almost endless vids everywhere about them, shame that most of it is in Japanese. i really should learn Nihonggo soon..

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waning_moon

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Well, I've always been curious too so this was very informative.

I don't want to complicate things further but the girls have mentioned that they spent their OWN money on renting studio for practices. I saw this in an interview (I forgot which, but it is a clear memory) and Rina even elaborated that they chose to practice the midnight session because it costed less. To me, it sounded like they used their own money since they use their own money to buy outfits, etc, too.

Just putting this out there because I don't think this particular question was clearly answered.

(I also read something from Tumblr but it was a while ago and I only looked at it once so it's probably highly improbable but... It said that the four girls spent all their money on practices and other band related things, so they lost weight - down to 40kg or something - bc they couldn't pay for food/eat enough. I thought that was ridiculous because their parents can feed them, etc but I just want this statement to be cleared up.)

Wish they could disclose some of this information... I'm really curious for some reason =\ We need another full-on Scandal documentary XD

HaRuRiNaMaMiToMo

We have to be really careful with things "seen in a interview" and even more things "read on tumblr".

Unless you (or someone) knows advanced japanese you have to remember that translation can sometimes be tricky especially if the translator only has 1-2 lines of text to put as a subtitle on a video.

That being said I don't think what you say is a problem. CALESS supported them to some point but it doesn't mean the girls couldn't train themselves outside CALESS. Also even if this was project from CALESS/KITTY it didn't mean a full contract from the start with lots of money and intensive training in a professional studio with experts. They were very young when it started and this was surely not a short term project anyway, they took their time (but were still fast ^^).

They started from 0 so if they wanted to improve they couldn't just train a few hours per week they had to train a lot. That's how I think they rented the studio in the building that had the SCANDAL neon sign.

Maybe the real support only started later, not right after the audition, but more for the Shiroten days. If that timeline ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) is right then it's after Shiroten that things started really, before that they were mostly an amateur band training.

Fact is we know nothing on how or how much they got support early on. Because there was an audition and request for a girl band, and because they had some help for Shiroten doesn't mean that they were a professional band at day 1 with money support.

They formed girlsband and then things quickly evolved with RINA joining and they took the name SCANDAL, they already had a liveblog but in the end this doesn't mean they had a professional staff and all that ^^

So the whole "we had to rent a studio and put all our money in it" is surely true. It's not because you have parents that they can afford to pay everything for you. Back then this band was a huge opportunity but they were still young and not good at instruments =P

What I mean is that they surely didn't get huge money checks from day 1 and had to work on their own to improve, CALESS/KITTY may have supported them in some ways but the girls still had to work and prove themselves. I think later on when CALESS/KITTY saw their improvement and all they supported them much more and the real things started. But at the start I really doubt they had a huge support and were mostly like many amateur bands that had to work alone and pay for their stuff obviously.

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waning_moon

I've started realizing how tricky the Japanese translations can be XD I guess lots of things can be lost in the translation so you're right about it being unreliable.

Everything you said makes a lot of sense and I agree with all of it aha. I'm sure there was a point where they practiced on their own then the staff came later, but of course, they'd still be practicing on their own bc the staff doesn't watch them 24/7. I remember being curious because I saw their Shiroten lives and there were already people helping them out despite having not debuted yet.